Much to my chagrin, my training efforts have been blunted as I have come down with bronchitis.
I felt a bit of sniffle after my long run last weekend but I continued to train. In fact the day after running my 21k, I was doing my weight lifting, then the next day I was back to my sprints, then hill repeats on the Wednesday. The sniffle turned into a runny nose, then very quickly an excruciatingly sore throat, an uncontrollable cough and a low grade fever.
I am on antibiotics now so I should be fine, but I am pretty sure I have lost at least two weeks of good training progress. The rule I always worked with was if I am sick but I don't have a fever and it's above the neck, I can keep on exercising. Obviously, this backfired on me.
Many times as athletes we force ourselves to push through the sniffles, the stiffness, the aches and pains and the fatigue. This mental discipline after all is what makes us get to the next level and achieve our fitness goals. However, I think we need to also learn to listen to our bodies.
I read somewhere that you are six times more susceptible to upper respiratory tract infections after a marathon. Translation - take a few days off after a long run and incorporate daily a good multivitamin and possibly a herbal immune supplement. If you are serious about your training the best solution is not to get sick at all.
I will now be taking garlic, echinacea and vitamin C in addition to my daily multivitamin!
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Thursday, February 2, 2012
My New Year's Resolution
One of my New Year's resolutions is to run the Two Oceans in Cape Town.
For those who don't know, the Two Oceans Marathon takes place in South Africa and is "the world's most beautiful marathon".With all the hype this marathon receives it is certainly worth adding to your bucket list along with the Boston Marathon and the Comrades if ultra marathons are up your alley.
Long distance running alone holds very little appeal for me. Being the adrenalin junkie that I am, I have signed up for the trail run. This is certainly going to be more extreme than simply running a marathon. It will also allow me to retain as much of my lean body mass as possible. You can't run up Table Mountain without some muscle on your bones. I loathe the emaciated physique of some elite marathoners. There is no need for us regular folks to ever look like that.
So onto my training for the next three months. My focus will be on plyometric exercises to build up lower body strength - think jumping jacks, star jumps, frog jumps, jump squats, jump lunges... you get the picture. Upper body - you can never do too many push-ups.
Core strength is an often overlooked but essential part of any training program. When it comes to endurance events, your core needs to be strong enough to hold you up. If you can maintain good form you will waste less energy. It is essential to include ab and back strengthening work. Think planks, mountain climbers, SB jackknifes. No sit-ups! (that will be another blog post)
And of course, for conditioning I will need to include some running, 1 long off road run on the weekend, and a couple of shorter runs or hill repeats during the week.
I have no intention of stepping foot in the gym. If you are like me, the gym is a one way ticket to losing focus and not training. It's important when you have your goals to focus on what you want to achieve. Not knocking gyms or anything, I find there are many different people there with different agendas and it is easy to get confused or lose focus altogether.
Gyms do have one MAJOR advantage though - Social Support. You can only go so far training by yourself. There comes that wall that you can only push through if you are training with others (unless you have super willpower - which most of us lack unfortunately).
So if you are like me and you decide not to train in the gym, be sure to have a team of like-minded focused individuals to join you :-)
For those who don't know, the Two Oceans Marathon takes place in South Africa and is "the world's most beautiful marathon".With all the hype this marathon receives it is certainly worth adding to your bucket list along with the Boston Marathon and the Comrades if ultra marathons are up your alley.
Long distance running alone holds very little appeal for me. Being the adrenalin junkie that I am, I have signed up for the trail run. This is certainly going to be more extreme than simply running a marathon. It will also allow me to retain as much of my lean body mass as possible. You can't run up Table Mountain without some muscle on your bones. I loathe the emaciated physique of some elite marathoners. There is no need for us regular folks to ever look like that.
So onto my training for the next three months. My focus will be on plyometric exercises to build up lower body strength - think jumping jacks, star jumps, frog jumps, jump squats, jump lunges... you get the picture. Upper body - you can never do too many push-ups.
Core strength is an often overlooked but essential part of any training program. When it comes to endurance events, your core needs to be strong enough to hold you up. If you can maintain good form you will waste less energy. It is essential to include ab and back strengthening work. Think planks, mountain climbers, SB jackknifes. No sit-ups! (that will be another blog post)
And of course, for conditioning I will need to include some running, 1 long off road run on the weekend, and a couple of shorter runs or hill repeats during the week.
I have no intention of stepping foot in the gym. If you are like me, the gym is a one way ticket to losing focus and not training. It's important when you have your goals to focus on what you want to achieve. Not knocking gyms or anything, I find there are many different people there with different agendas and it is easy to get confused or lose focus altogether.
Gyms do have one MAJOR advantage though - Social Support. You can only go so far training by yourself. There comes that wall that you can only push through if you are training with others (unless you have super willpower - which most of us lack unfortunately).
So if you are like me and you decide not to train in the gym, be sure to have a team of like-minded focused individuals to join you :-)
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Welcome to Our Blog
Welcome to our blog. This is blog is all about exercise and discipline of the mind. If we can conquer ourselves and our minds, then we can conquer the world. Discipline of the mind is not an easy road but it is a road worth taking. Make 2012 be a different year for you and achieve your fitness goals.
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